How can I write a strong college essay about my immigration experience?

Writing about your immigration story can absolutely stand out if you focus on specific, vivid moments and explore how those experiences uniquely shaped who you are now. It’s true that immigration stories are common in college essays, but what makes yours memorable is your personal lens, details, and insights. Admissions readers want to understand you as an individual, not just the broader narrative.

Focus on a singular experience or moment that challenged your sense of belonging, identity, or comfort. Instead of retelling your family's entire journey, try zooming in on a specific incident. For example, describe a day when you were asked to translate for your parents in an important situation—maybe at a doctor’s office or parent-teacher meeting—and what feelings this sparked. Were you proud, anxious, frustrated? How did you handle it? How did that shape your view of responsibility or adulthood?

Another way to make your story unique is to bring in a concrete artifact or tradition. Did your family have meals that kept your connection to Vietnam alive? Maybe you were embarrassed by bringing homemade food to school at first but later realized its value, and even started a cultural club to share your heritage. These details reveal personal growth through a relatable but distinctive lens.

Try using a structure like this: open with a vivid scene (for example, sitting at the kitchen table translating a letter or cooking a Vietnamese dish with your parents), then expand to reflection on what this moment taught you. From there, discuss how that learning has influenced your goals, values, or actions in your community. End with a forward-looking statement about how this part of your identity will guide you in college and beyond.

It’s totally okay to talk about both challenges and growth, but focus most on how you responded to difficulties, how your perspective changed, and how you took action. Colleges want to know what you did with your experience, not just that it happened to you.

If you’re authentic and detailed, and if you focus more on a single transforming moment rather than the “big picture,” your essay will stand out. For instance, one student wrote about teaching her mom to drive after moving to the US and explored their shifting relationship and her growing independence—simple, but very personal and memorable.

Let your unique journey shine through specific events and your reflections on them. That’s what will make your essay both authentic and compelling.